S.W., stormed the works on the I5th, and on the l6th entered Jaro- slaw and crossed to the E. bank of the San.
The IV. Army reached the Russian lines on the Vistula-San angle on the same date, and took up a position on the W. bank of the San as far as the Wislok. S. of the Wislok the XI. Army had established itself on the left bank of the San, in face of the fortress girdle of Przemysl and extending to the San S. of Mackowice; the III. Army aligned itself as far as Husakow before the S.W. and S. fronts of Przemysl, while the II. Army had worked its way forward to the entrenched line extending over Krukienice to the Wielki Bloto. S. of this marshy -area the Southern Army had driven Cherba- chev's XI. Russian Army back on Stryj and Dolina, which had been formed out of the Stryj detachment early in May. Pflanzer's Army was compelled to withdraw before the Russian IX. Army (Lechit- ski) to the Pruth between Czernowitz and Kolomea, and there made preparations to hold this line, while cooperating with its reenforced left wing in the offensive of the Southern Army.
N. of the Vistula the Russian IV. Army was forced back by the armies of Dankl and Woyrsch to the line Nowe Miasto-Mniszek- Ilza-Opatow Klimontow, after heavy fighting in the Czarna and Lysa Gora areas, and smair rear-guard actions elsewhere. Before the IX. German Army the Russians held their ground.
In 14 days of fierce battle the Central Powers had gained a great victory, and had pushed back the Russian " steam-roller " some no m. eastwards, besides securing 170,000 prisoners, 128 guns, 368 machine-guns and immense quantities of war material.
A pause in the operations now ensued, which was devoted to the preparations for a further offensive, to comprise the forcing of the San line, the capture of the fortress of Przemysl, and the storming of the heights S.E. of the fortress.
The San itself at this season was not a serious obstacle, and its passage presented no difficulties in itself; but on the far bank there existed strong and well-prepared positions, while the Russians had received considerable reinforcements ; their front E. of the Vistula having been strengthened by some 9 divs. at the beginning of May. The fortress of Przemysl had been reconstructed by the Russians and was now too strong to capture by a coup de main. The bringing- up of heavy artillery would therefore be necessary, and the strong positions S.E. of the Vistula also demanded a carefully planned attack. It appeared, moreover, that the Russians had recovered their breath in this new position, and that they intended to oppose an energetic resistance to the pursuit. Fresh and thorough prepara- tions had, therefore, to be made for the continuance of the attack. The transport of supplies could not keep pace with the troops during their rapid advance, for the Russians in their retreat had carried out a thorough work of destruction. The roads and rail- ways could not be used, and the bridges had been blown up. Only after hasty restoration had been carried out could the necessary heavy artillery and ammunition be sent forward.
As the front became shortened during the advance, the Austrian VIII. Corps was on May 10 taken out of the line on the III. Army front, transferred by rail to the IV. Army, and attached to Kirch- bach's group where it was to be assigned the part of storming Sando- mierz. The 4lst Honved Inf. Diy. was also transferred from the III. to the I. Army, coming into line on the igth at Staszow.
The imminent entry of Italy into the war had no influence on the continuance of the offensive, apart from the fact that the VII. Corps (iyth Inf. Div. and 2Oth Honved Inf. Div.) were entrained on the 2 1st at Mezo Laborcz for the S.W. front. There was, how- ever, a spontaneous pause during which both sides made their prep- arations for the forthcoming great battle. The Austro-German troops were engaged on their front in securing favourable condi- tions for their impending attack, while the Russians endeavoured, in a series of powerful counter-blows, to check the progress of their pursuers and even to prepare the ground for a possible offensive.
The occupation of Jaroslaw early on the l6th, and the construc- tion within the next few days of a regularly fortified bridge-head, in which was included the village of Sieniawa, captured on the l8th by the Austro-Hungarian roth Inf. Div., afforded a favourable sallyport for the next advance. Despite the gallant counter-attacks of the III. Caucasian and XXIV. Corps, the German X. and Guard Corps and Arz's Austrian Corps were able to consolidate their posi- tions in this sector. The I2th Div. of the last-named corps on the 2oth carried out a successful advance towards Radymno. The XI. Army Command, in order to assist the II. and III. Armies, which were making little headway, projected an attack on the 24th with the left flank along the Szklo on the E. bank of the San. If the part played by the Russians opposed to the XI. Army was mainly pas- sive, they showed a more aggressive spirit opposite the IV. Army on the Lower San. Units of their IX. Corps near Misko, and of their X. Corps near Stare Miasto, delivered violent attacks on the l8th, which were defeated. On the igth. after being reenforced. they again crossed the San between Rudnik and Stare Miasto but had to return hurriedly to the E. bank as the result of a counter-attack by the 3rd Inf. Div. Heavy fighting also occurred near Rudnik, where the 8th Inf. Div. defeated with the utmost gallantry the repeated Russian efforts to effect a break-through.
During the pause in the fighting here, violent fighting took place in the bend of the Vistula on the front of Dankl's and Woyrsch's
armies. The pursuit, which had been begun on the I2th by the for- mer army, had been successively taken up by Woyrsch's armies and by Kovess's army group. The right wing of Dankl's army encoun- tered strong resistance on the 1 6th on the line Koprziwnyca- Klimontow, advanced to the attack but failed to break through ; the same fate befell the II. Corps on his left wing, which had to relinquish its initial gains in face of a violent Russian counter- attack. Woyrsch's right wing, which was in touch, was also held up; on his left wing, however, the i6th Inf. Div. took Ruski Brod near the source of the Radomka and drove the enemy back in flight.
During the lyth indications of a Russian counter-offensive between the inner wings of Dankl's and Woyrsch's armies increased in number, and Bredow's div. (Woyrsch's right wing) and the II. Corps actually had to resist a series of violent assaults which, in the case of Dankl's army, even suggested the necessity of a retreat behind the Czarna. On the i8th, however, the expected counter- offensive failed to materialize against Dankl's left wing; the Rus- sians devoted all their efforts on this and the following day to the capture of Bredow's positions, and they also exercised consider- able pressure against Dankl's southern wing; all their attacks, how- ever, were beaten off.
On the 2Oth the main body of the Austro-Hungarian yth Cav. Div. came into action on Bredow's right, and the 4ist Honved Inf. Div. from the III. Army, on the II. Corps' left; and the Russians in this part of the front thereupon fell back before this corps and Bre- dow's div. to an entrenched position on the line Brody (on the Kamienna)-Wasni6w-Kobylany. The pursuers worked forward to this on the 24th. Nothing of moment occurred in the centre and on the northern wing of Woyrsch's army, or on the fronts of Kovess's army group and the German IX. Army.
The Russian attempt to break through in the mountain area N. of Kielce, to relieve the pressure on their retiring troops N. of the Vistula, had thus failed; 6,300 prisoners had been lost.
S. of the Vistula there now began the violent struggle prepared for since the I2th, which in the battle of Przemysl, was to introduce the second phase of the great spring campaign in Galicia.
The Battle of Przemysl (May 24- June 6). On May 24 the attack by Mackensen's army, which had been planned four days earlier, began along the Sklo in an E. and S.E. direction. At the same time the II. and III. Armies were to advance in a N.E. direction along the Mosciska-Przemysl road, with the object of driving the Russian field army away from the fortress from the S. The IV. Army, secur- ing the San crossing at Sieniawa, was to direct its main effort against the strong Russian positions in the angle between the San and the Vistula about Rudnik and Machow, while the Southern Army was to continue its attacks in the Drohobycz-Stryj area. As early as the 24th the XI. Army forced back the enemy along all the front of attack. The German XLI. and Austro-Hungarian Corps, on this and the following days, accomplished the brilliant feat of storming Radymno, which the Russians had erected into a powerful bridge- head by means of three exceptionally strong lines connected with the northern defences of Przemysl.
A violent and extremely effective artillery preparation begun early in the morning made it possible to take Ostrow and Radymno on the 25th, and finally for the VI. Corps to capture the bridge-head of Zagrody. The Russians fled over the San in complete disorder. By the premature destruction of the bridge over the river, 21,000 of them were cut off, and fell into the hands of the victors, who also captured 39 guns and 40 machine-guns.
By the evening of the 25th Mackensen's attacking wedge had been driven forward on the E. bank of the San to the line Radwa-Zapalow (on the Lubaczowka)-Laski-Lazy. On the W. bank the Bavarian nth and German ngth Divs. had already on the 24th reached the heights S.W. of Zablotce. On the 26th the XLI. Corps succeeded in gaining possession of the S. end of Swiete on the W. bank of the San, while the VI. Corps took the villages of Nienowice and Chotyniec. The Guard established itself on the line Zaleska Wola-Zapalow.
The Russians had made every effort to check Mackensen's advance, particularly by means of violent counter-attacks at night, but in vain. Mackensen's advance had progressed so far to the E. that Przemysl was now encircled from the north. He proceeded to consolidate his positions in this area, partly in order to counter a Russian offensive which was just beginning, partly in order to await the moment when the II. and III. Armies should be able to deliver a direct assault on Przemysl from the south.
The right wing of the II. Army and the whole of the III. contin- ued their attacks on the 24th with the utmost energy. On the pre- vious night a Russian counter-attack had pressed the XVIII. Corps back a little, but on the morning of the 25th the position was restored, largely owing to the arrival of the I3th Landwehr Inf. Div.
Field-Marshal-Lt. Schmidt's group (yth Inf. Div. of the IV. Corps and the XVIII. Corps) attacking on the left wing against Mosciska, gained some small successes, but the German Beskiden Corps farther to the left made no advance on this day. On the 26th it was able to storm two hills near Husakow, but as against this all the efforts of Schmidt's group broke down before the strong Russian positions, Which were in part concreted and consisted in places of seven successive lines of trenches. Owing to the lack of heavy, artillery the attack here could progress only by systematic
